Holiday Craft: Decorating with Repurposed Jars

As I was cleaning my fridge one wintry day, I discovered a mass of spoiled olives, jellies, and other suspicious matter in jars. After emptying and cleaning the jars up, and because I like to recycle in creative ways, I made them into holiday jars filled with pine-scented soy candles with matching miniature tree lids.

The best part? It was simple and fun to do! And OK, if you don’t feel like messing with scalding hot wax, you can use the jars as decorative storage or fill them with candies, cocoa mix, or little treats and give them as gifts. However, for those brave crafters out there, here is a link with easy-to-follow instructions for making your own candles (just be sure to use non-GMO soy wax or beeswax and organic essential oils).

Note to crafters: With the exception of the jars, I purchased the entire list of project supplies at A.C. Moore (my second home).

Here’s what you need:

The desire to clean out your fridge

Empty jars

Craft paint

Brushes (if painting the lids by hand)

Miniature trees

Adhesive (I used E-6000 Craft Adhesive)

Here’s how ya do it:

Paint the lids with craft paint.

Once the paint is dry, glue a miniature tree to each lid.

Fill the jars with homemade candles or with goodies.

You’re done!

How easy is that? Probably the most difficult part of this project for me was removing the labels from the jars. I found that after a good soak in hot, soapy water and a little coaxing with a magic eraser, the labels surrendered.

Have fun, and happy crafting!

Mark Kintzel comes from a long line of crafters, artists, musicians, and farm folk. He first came under the magic spell of flowers while wandering through meadows near his grandparents’ farm in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, as a boy. His appreciation for creativity and flowers grew throughout the years, and he now specializes in event planning and styling, garden design, and organic floral arrangements for just about any occasion. See more at markkintzel.com.

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